A visit to Fort Pickens: a national treasure

As I stood next to an ancient cannon on the ramparts of Ft. Pickens and gazed across the bay toward Pensacola, I was watching the setting sun as Geronimo must have done during his captivity at the fort. I was deeply moved by this special place and the beauty and colors of the fading sun. Though he had been forced to be so far from his native lands, Geronimo must have had similar feelings.

The great warrior was born free in America’s vast Southwest during a much simpler time as he described in these words, “I was born on the prairies where the wind blew free and there was nothing to break the light of the sun. I was born where there were no enclosures. I was warmed by the sun, rocked by the winds and sheltered by the trees as other Indian babes. I was living peaceably when people began to speak bad of me.”

Following the War Between the States, thousands of settlers moved west and the US government began forcing the Apaches from their lands. Geronimo was a leader of the Chiricahua Apache, who felt a duty to defend his people’s homeland against the military might of the United States. Geronimo said, “I cannot think that we are useless, or God would not have created us. There is one God looking down on us all. We are all the children of one God. The sun, the darkness, the winds are all listening to what we have to say.”

Though he and his warriors fought valiantly, Geronimo and his band were eventually captured at Skeleton Canyon in 1886. The Chiricahua Apache were then shipped by rail to Florida. On October 25, 1886, 15 Apache warriors arrived at Fort Pickens. Geronimo and his warriors spent many days working hard labor at the fort in direct violation of the agreements made at Skeleton Canyon. To this, Geronimo later said, “I should have fought until I was the last man alive!”

Ft. Pickens was actually constructed in the 1830s and has a long history of service to the nation – including a battle in the Civil War. Today, this beautiful National Park sits at the end of Santa Rosa Island at the end of a long, narrow road sitting between sand dunes with Pensacola Bay on one side and the Gulf of Mexico on the other. Daily visits are possible for a small fee that opens the door to so many wonderful endeavors. These include: fishing, swimming, hiking, biking, birdwatching, picnicking, camping, historic structure tours and ranger-led programs. Lifeguards are on duty 9:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. during the summer season at Langdon Beach. The visitor center at Fort Pickens hosts a bookstore, and a museum is located near the historic fort. A snack bar is open during the summer season on the sound side of the Fort Pickens Museum. Food services and limited camping supplies are available at the campground store near the entrance to the campground year-round.

On your own, it is possible to tour the historic fort and island gun batteries, hike the several hiking and nature trails in the park, bike the roads in the park and bike the road between the park and Pensacola Beach.

Fort Pickens and the sugar-white sand dunes and beaches are also perfect for bird watching. In fact, nearly 300 species of birds have been seen and recorded in this area.

Though the fort is off the beaten track for most visitors to Florida, its unique history, gorgeous sunsets, numerous activities and possibilities are certainly worth the extra effort. As Robert Frost said so many years ago: “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled, and that has made all the difference.”

Photos: by Bill Vanderford